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Blitzer
The Blitzer is a Monovision creature in Iron Brigade. They are one of the first Tubes that Mobile Trench Brigade Marines will encounter, alongside the Resistor and Tommy. Little more than living bombs, Blitzers rush towards their intended targets and explode, causing considerable damage to anything caught in the blast radius. Blitzers are one of the most obvious Tubes - their red, glowing bodies, loud roars, quick running speed, and tendency to charge in single-file make them easily-identified. They emit a distinctive growl, accompanied by a hiss that slowly builds to a low roar, when they emerge from a Conduit. Blitzers are the first Tube the player encounters that actively target the player, as opposed to objectives or turrets. Whilst they use their self-destruct attack against both players and emplacements, their third attack - a close-combat strike similar to a Resistor's - is traditionally only used when it's engaging an objective. On the rare occasions a Blitzer uses its melee attack on a player or emplacement, the damage is relatively minor. Four variants of Blitzer exist. The first version is encountered during the European campaign; these are the weakest, doing the least damage and having the weakest armor. The second is the African-pattern Blitzer, which has an angular head analogous to a Scarab Beetle's shell and can both deal and take considerably more damage. The third is the Pacific-pattern Blitzer, which is stronger still, and has a wide, wedge-shaped head with a swept-back frill. The final one, encountered only in Rise of the Martian Bear is the Mars-pattern Blitzer, which has long, wire-like glowing tendrils and can both take and deal more damage than any other Blitzer variant. Tactics for Disposal Blitzers are aggressive in the extreme, but thankfully not terribly bright. They charge directly at an opponent, making them rather vulnerable to the effects of Dampening Generators, and they are one of the least durable Tubes of their size. Perhaps the greatest advantage a canny MTB Marine has against them however, is that Blitzers' explosions are indiscriminate - a Blitzer will always explode when killed, and the explosion will damage other Tubes just as surely as it will damage foes. Because of this, it's possible to weaken or even kill other tubes by killing Blitzers. Additionally, because of their propensity for head-on charges in single-file, they are extremely vulnerable to being led, and thus vulnerable to any weapon with ricochet, piercing, MIRV, or cluster effects - a single high-level Artillery or Sniper Cannon shot can potentially take out an entire formation of Blitzers in one go. The main caveat, however, is that Blitzers can cause heavy damage, especially to Engineering Trenches - making their destruction often a priority. Trivia * The name "Blitzer" is a tripartite reference - it references "Blitzkrieg," or the German concept of "lightning War" dating back to World War II, it references a "Blitz," as in the charging manuver favored during football, and it references the single most common moniker for sports radio programs affiliated with football in the 1950s and 1960s. Similar Monovision Species * Resistors * Cathodes Category:Monovision